failed reconstruction

Hi Liz

You may not realise it but you sound like you have made heaps of progress, you made it through a week of work, you have a direction to move in with your treatment, you are getting help, you have some support. So give yourself a pat on the back, its not perfect but you are obviously pretty tough. A friend of mine going through this too said that we only let ourselves go to deal with the parts we can, when we can - it makes the whole thing take longer but we break it down - its hard if you always look at the big picture. Just getting out of bed somedays is worthy of congratulations! 

Hope work is a bit easier this week - I haven't even got to that hurdle yet.

Cheers

Fiona

Hi Fiona

Thank you so much. It is hard when all the stories regarding BC in the media are always uplifting, which is great in a way but not really the true story. I even heard that BC is the glamorous cancer!!! I am still trying to take it day by day which is totally against my personality and background. My GP has been fantastic, incredibly supportive and she has pulled me through some awlful times. The bugger at the moment is that the meds available for nerve pain are contra to my antidepressant medication. I went back to work last week which took quite an emotional toll, I fell into a heap on Sat, fortunately a friend came around and calmed me down - totally unexpected but so lovely. I am also fortunate that I have a wonderful physio, she has advised me to get a second opinion re PS and has given me another PS who has looked after another case similar to mine.

I will take your advice and chase up other breast care nurses other than my own. I want to give my BC nurse some slack as she is only part time and works between two hospitals (one private and one public) but I'm still a little bit angry to forgive at the moment.

Thanks again for your support.

cheers Liz

Hi Liz

I went through the private system and the breast care nurse rang me again the other day, I have read though about private patients in public hospitals not faring so well. I was also a bit surpised not to have a visit from the breast car nurse during my recent stay in hospital for the second stage of recon. I think sometimes people fall through the cracks so keep knocking on doors until you get someone you can talk to.  Can you talk with your GP about your anxiety and depression? I read somewhere that 50% of BC patients experience depression. I have been off work for 6 months even though I didn't need chemo and have been taking the time to work through things, it is a slow process. My friend advised me to have someone with me when the bandages first came off after the mastectomy but the surgeon did everything so fast I didn't realise they were off until I looked down. What a mess, what an ugly mess. After the initial look I would look briefly in the mirror before I got in the shower each morning but not after - like being on a ladder if you are scared of heights - don;t look down. All your friends and family ask how you are and it is very easy to say Fine, Great etc. because that is what they want to hear. One day early on when the check out girl asked how my day had been I really wanted to tell her, honestly but that would have been mean. Lots of people with BC are positive and inspirational, there is a lot of pressure to be amazing and deal with everything - the reality is that the whole thing is just crap, you feel crap , you look crap and then sometimes there is more crap. So my theory is that you deal with a little bit of crap at a time at your own pace and then after a while you start to feel better. - Stay calm and carry on, like the poster says. Keep going when you have to and let yourself wallow when you need to. After a while the wallowing gets kind of tedious and you feel more able to get into a happier place. You have been through a lot, the whole process is traumatizing and then you add constant pain into the equation it is no wonder you feel down. Keep knocking on doors until you get what you need,

Fiona

Hi jfimp

I am so happy that everthing has gone well for you. Initially I was meant to have been at your stage by now (unilateral MX) but my pathology didn't come through as well as expected; it is something I dwell on and I know it is unhealthy to. I have spoken to a couple of breast care nurses who couldn't really help me as they have not come across anyone who had a TE removed and not put back in which usually happens where there is an infection involved. I haven't spoken to my own breast care nurse since I was passed over to my onc which seems to be very common if you gone down the private health care road. I have heard that  breast care nurses and support in the public sector is much better than the private sector.

Thanks again for your reply and all the best for the future.

cheers Liz

Hi, just read your post and want to give you a hug. I know not very helpful at all.

I had a double MX in Jan and just had tissue expanders out and silicone implants in. I have been very lucky through the whole process - if get take out getting breast cancer at all in that thought - so I feel terrible that you have had such a rough time.

I am in Brisbane and have found the breast care nurses great for talking through things. There are also people at the Choices rooms to talk with. I think you should try to access some of these people or type of people where you live - I think most hospitals have a breast care nurse.

You have made the biggest step in feeling better by posting, keep going in your search until you find what you need. Action in a positive direction, no matter how small or how difficult is always better than doing nothing.

 

Hi, just read your post and want to give you a hug. I know not very helpful at all.

I had a double MX in Jan and just had tissue expanders out and silicone implants in. I have been very lucky through the whole process - if get take out getting breast cancer at all in that thought - so I feel terrible that you have had such a rough time.

I am in Brisbane and have found the breast care nurses great for talking through things. There are also people at the Choices rooms to talk with. I think you should try to access some of these people or type of people where you live - I think most hospitals have a breast care nurse.

You have made the biggest step in feeling better by posting, keep going in your search until you find what you need. Action in a positive direction, no matter how small or how difficult is always better than doing nothing.