New To BCNA

Hi All,

So sorry I’ve not been back earlier, just been head down and busy supporting where and when I can.

Thank you for your wishes and thought, the 158th was a long day for all but all went well, Karen has had the procedure as described with an area of around 80mm removed, the node however were a tad deeper than expected and as such took a bit more to take away. Karen received the best of care from everyone and only needed to stay in the one night (as expected).

We took some of the suggestions mentioned earlier in this thread and the weekend prior enjoyed some time out and hit the shops, some food joints and just had a good time. Now we’re on the other side an d a couple of weeks post-surgery Karen is feeling much better about things, she is sore as expected however more so from under her arm pit as this was also a drain site due to how deep they needed to go to get a couple of her nodes but as from today is much easier to deal with. Karen is back to being herself mostly and whilst still having discomfort she seems to be dealing with her diagnosis in a more positive attitude still however worried on the post-surgery visit which is scheduled this week to find out from the lab if all was removed and / or this has spread any.

I’ll keep you informed on her final results and if all good, the next stage will be radiation therapy for a number of weeks and medication which was all as expected. The treatment team here in WA are fantastic, caring and supportive and we pass huge thanks for them to date, I ended up setting up a “Go Pink” site highlighting that whilst we all know about this issue and donate, support, help etc when we can, you never really understand how involved or how many are effected from this and asked my friends and family to pass around my link to friends and family and see what we can raised to help this foundation. One of Karen’s best friends donated $250 in one hit and while she lives 600KM’s away she has been a wonderful support for Karen so much so she jumped on a train to come down the weekend before surgery to spend a couple of days with her as we hosted a birthday party for our 23 year old and had a dress up event and had a ball.

Love to you all and our thoughts to those having to experience this worry as a newly diagnosed, it does get a bit easier.