New diagnosis

Hi Jen, I am really glad to hear you have made contact already with your breast care nurse at the hospital. They are a great resource and having a good relationship with her will be invaluable once you start the treatment processes etc. Without treading on anyone's toes, you can also have a free breast care nurse supporting you from Breast Cancer Care WA, (and this organisation can help with transport and financial stuff as well, and are on good terms with the hospitals etc).  Denise pointed out to me that the community-based nurses are a useful bridge for when you finish all your hospital-based treatment, and can feel a bit lost and unsure who to ask about the things you still need answers to.

BTW, my GP expected that it would take about 2 weeks to get an appointment with a breast surgeon once I was diagnosed, and possibly one or two weeks to then get into surgery. So although it seems like forever, and the waiting is the worst thing, 12 days from diagnosis to surgical appointment is about what she seemed to expect.  Also, when you get in, they may suggest neo-adjuvant chemotherapy to shrink the tumor before surgery, since they can see how your cancer cells respond to the treatment while there is still a tumor to monitor, and also they often do it so you can then have a lumpectomy if it turns out to be borderline in terms of size. If when you see your team you have already got it in your head that you just need to get rid of it, you may not be open to this choice, so it might be a good thing to be mentally prepared for this option and ready to ask why it would be a good choice for you,- what are the pros and cons for you.

Sometimes it means that you can take part in a Phase 3 clinical trial and get access to being treated with the newest chemotherapy drugs which have been proved to be brilliant  for whatever sort of cancer you have, but have not yet been approved for cover by PBS, so  you get it free where otherwise it would either cost heaps or not be available. Sometimes it means being put onto drugs that have only been made available for having before surgery, and if those are the best ones for you it can be an excellent option to consider. 

best wishes

Jessica

Hi Sarah (and also Jen), Thought I'd put this here because Jen will be asked about her wishes re reconstruction when she sees her surgeon. But you mention your new decision about reconstruction. . My daughter just gave me some information about breast reconstruction, that I had not come across before that I thought you might find helpful since last post you were upset that you had to wait a year before you could consider it.. I too was deciding that I probably would not have breast reconstruction, though I have put that decision off to Feb15 or Sept 15. Personally, I want to wait through the period when a local recurrence is most likely so they don't have to cut it all out again for further surgery, and so I am not checking for lumps through a breast which is in the process of being reconstructed so likely to be lumpy anyway. But that's just me, and others, maybe you, see it differently

First is that you can have a good and effective breast reconstruction done months or even years after a mastectomy so you don't have to make a permanent decision now. Second is that so long as you have not had intensive radiotherapy on the chest skin and it will still stretch ok, you can often have the skin stretched with expanders and then an implant inserted, either silicon or saline to reshape the breast or breasts, and these are now generally really safe, not like the old ones. Then a nipple can be surgically constructed and an areola tattooed on. Third  they have developed an amazing array of surgical techniques that use either stomach tissue or shoulder/back muscle tissue to create a breast from your own tissue, with an implant if necessary to enlarge it beyond the size possible with your own tissue.

Isn't it an amazing world we live in!

Jessica

I meant do come along (not alone) to next get together! (chemo brain still kicking in sometimes)

Hello Jen

Gosh I remember what it's like at the beginning. Don't be shy at having a jolly good melt down/temper tandrum or just a good cry.Take one day at a time and try of course to take someone with you to all appointments because love, you think you can remember, but it's wise to have someone else there either recording (ask permission) or writing down.

In a lot of respects the cancer journey will bring out the best in you it can bring a family together. Wait for it to happen and this time in 6 months you will be able to help some person just in your position. Just like me who is determined to be on the road of recovery. I only have 6 weeks of radiation left as I start Monday but I have done 5 months of chemo and had a bi-lateral mastectomy a month ago. I had 20 G girls and I feel I move like a grey hound now!!!!!!!!! I will not be getting re-contrustion but I am 55yrs old and that decision is the right one for me. I am also a public patient and proud that WA have the best in Breast Cancer. Keep in touch and do come alone to next get to gether held in Mount Lawley. If you need any help with transport let me know or Mich who can arrange anything!

Cbyer hugs and you can do this girls.

Sarah