Hi Al, sorry to hear your friends pulled out of a girls weekend away. It is hard to understand why this happens. I guess our breast cancer must scare our friends, and makes them all question their own mortality. Of course, that doesn't help us though. I have been very fortunate with most of my friends, but I realise that for many of us the people we thought we could rely on start to disappear. Thank goodness for sites like this, as we will always be here to support one another. My hospital in Sydney has a good breast cancer support group, as well as some exercise classes especially for breast surgery patients. I did attend the group for a year, but have now moved on. I love the exercise groups, and the support from
them is amazing. We have all been through cancer, but for many it is years down the track.
We all have coffee after the class, and can
support each other in many ways. Cancer is not
the main topic of conversation anymore, but is
quite openly spoken about if someone has a
question. This way we have the benefit of
friendships where cancer isn't a taboo subject,
where we all know how we are feeling. It is the
best of both worlds. I'm sorry to hear about the
bad nights and hot flushes. I am also
experiencing this and it is the pits. Sometimes it
feels like it takes hours to nod off, and each time I
turn over it stimulates another hot flush, and so it
is off with the blankets, cool down, and then a
gradual return of the blankets, until I next move
and another hot flush comes and we repeat the
process again. Every once in a while, the hot
flushes aren't so bad and I get a reasonable night
sleep, and it is wonderful. I will take a Tamaze
sleeping pill once every 3 to 5 nights just to get a
good sleep. I am feeling good now, but do
remember feeling very low in February this year,
just after my breast reconstruction was
completed, and chemo was 11 months behind
me. It was a weird feeling, and I felt guilty that I
felt this way, as I thought I should be back to
'normal' again and didn't feel it. We now have a
new normal, and I have accepted this and am
now feeling ok. Hope you will feel ok again soon
as well. Take care. Love Chris xx
