Newly diagnosed and learning
I've read through some posts and realise I have lots of gaps of knowledge about what I have. I know I have breast cancer, it's about 8cm, I know its spread to my armpit lymphs and now the nodes near ...
Forum Discussion
Hi Lillian,
Also, I found Cancer Council's "Cancer Connect" program extremely helpful. They basically pair you up with a support person who has recently finished treatments and who are in a similar situation as you ie tumour size, grade, young kids at home, the planned treatments you'll have whether it be surgery, chemo, radiotherapy and hormone therapy. My support person was also a mum with young child and she gave me very practical advice about how to look after my oral hygiene to prevent mouth ulcers or tooth decay (as we are immune suppressed) from side effects of chemo such as vomiting (luckily I never did). She recommended that I use Biotene Dry Mouthwash and Sensodyne Pro Namel toothpaste (protects teeth against effects of acid wear if you vomit) which you can buy at any chemist. You can also get GC Tooth Mousse from your dentist, it's a topical creme with bio-available calcium and phosphate. If you haven't started chemo, organise to see your dentist for a check up and clean. I found my support person an invaluable resource while going through treatments because I felt so alone as no one in my social network is going through breast cancer treatments so they don't know what you are going through really even they sympathise. A bit like being pregnant, you need to have been pregnant to know what morning sickness feels like for example.
I also saw the Catalyst and because of that, I have exercised throughout my chemo treatments and still continues during radiotherapy now. I exercise 4-5 times a week. I used to go for a session on a chemo day after the injections. Call me crazy but I felt Ok so I did.
The best advice I've ever got was to trust my oncologist completely, and don't worry about what other people say how their mum did this when she had breast cancer and don't Google (unless it's from credible sites like the Cancer Council or BCNA)! It will just make you more stressed. If your medical team has recommended you having chemo first then there's good reason for it. I know the feeling that you just want the tumour out ASAP but I'm sure your doctors knows what they are doing so just focus on your girls, go do exercise, eat well and rest well, prepare your body the best you can as it is going to battle. I had been very lucky to not had any mouth ulcers, any change in taste buds, not much diarrhea in terms of side effects. I believe it was exercise that kept fatigue at a minimum. In a way I'm glad my girls are so young that they don't understand what's going on and doesn't ask questions yet. I just tell the older one that mummy's sick and needs to go to hospital and she's OK with it.
Remember just one day at a time, you will get there.
Also, I found Cancer Council's "Cancer Connect" program extremely helpful. They basically pair you up with a support person who has recently finished treatments and who are in a similar situation as you ie tumour size, grade, young kids at home, the planned treatments you'll have whether it be surgery, chemo, radiotherapy and hormone therapy. My support person was also a mum with young child and she gave me very practical advice about how to look after my oral hygiene to prevent mouth ulcers or tooth decay (as we are immune suppressed) from side effects of chemo such as vomiting (luckily I never did). She recommended that I use Biotene Dry Mouthwash and Sensodyne Pro Namel toothpaste (protects teeth against effects of acid wear if you vomit) which you can buy at any chemist. You can also get GC Tooth Mousse from your dentist, it's a topical creme with bio-available calcium and phosphate. If you haven't started chemo, organise to see your dentist for a check up and clean. I found my support person an invaluable resource while going through treatments because I felt so alone as no one in my social network is going through breast cancer treatments so they don't know what you are going through really even they sympathise. A bit like being pregnant, you need to have been pregnant to know what morning sickness feels like for example.
I also saw the Catalyst and because of that, I have exercised throughout my chemo treatments and still continues during radiotherapy now. I exercise 4-5 times a week. I used to go for a session on a chemo day after the injections. Call me crazy but I felt Ok so I did.
The best advice I've ever got was to trust my oncologist completely, and don't worry about what other people say how their mum did this when she had breast cancer and don't Google (unless it's from credible sites like the Cancer Council or BCNA)! It will just make you more stressed. If your medical team has recommended you having chemo first then there's good reason for it. I know the feeling that you just want the tumour out ASAP but I'm sure your doctors knows what they are doing so just focus on your girls, go do exercise, eat well and rest well, prepare your body the best you can as it is going to battle. I had been very lucky to not had any mouth ulcers, any change in taste buds, not much diarrhea in terms of side effects. I believe it was exercise that kept fatigue at a minimum. In a way I'm glad my girls are so young that they don't understand what's going on and doesn't ask questions yet. I just tell the older one that mummy's sick and needs to go to hospital and she's OK with it.
Remember just one day at a time, you will get there.